Diamond in the Rough
by Bekahbee
Summary: A new villain on the horizon proves to be quite the adversary for our Sailor Scouts. How can they win against the charming Prince Ayashii and his henchman? Chapter 3 is up
1. Stolen Diamonds

"Christmas has come a little early this year, don't you think?" Serena asked, giggling as Raye tore up a note from Eddie Devereux, tossing the tiny white pieces into the trash.

"If it has, then I sure didn't get what I wanted." Raye mumbled. Eddie Devereux was the new exchange student from Texas who pronounced his Japanese with an irritating twang. He had taken a liking to Raye, never hesitating to buy her candy and write her embarrassing love notes.

"He seems nice." Amy stated, her nose buried in a thick book.

"I think we've all had worse at some point." Mina smiled. She ran her hand through her golden hair, casting all of her attention on Eddie. To be completely honest, Mina thought Eddie was adorable. He was polite, pretty smart, somewhat funny, and tried really hard to be conscientious of the Japanese language and culture.

"Please. Eddie Devereux is worse than a date with Satan." Raye snapped. Mina rolled her eyes.

"I think he's cute." Lita said dreamily. Raye glared at her with disgust.

"Then why don't _you_ date him."

The girls were suddenly alerted to a white cat scratching at one of the classroom windows.

"Artemis." Mina went to the window and opened it, keeping a sharp eye out for their teacher. Artemis padded softly to the ground, staring up at the girls.

"I don't mean to interrupt you while you're learning…" He began. Serena snorted.

"Don't worry, Artemis. Serena never really pays attention anyway." Raye said.

"It seems that strange things have been happening in our neighborhood."

"Strange? Like how?" Lita wondered. The girls leaned in closer.

"Every single diamond in the area was stolen last night." Artemis noticed their teacher walking briskly back into the classroom.

"Who would want to steal diamonds?" Serena asked.

"'Cause diamonds are expensive, bubble-head." Raye muttered. Artemis quickly dove under the teacher's desk to avoid conflict.

"Diamonds…that _is_ strange." Amy murmured to herself.

"I heard about it on the news. Some of my neighbors were robbed, but only their diamonds. The rest of their valuables were untouched." Mina explained.

"That doesn't make sense." Lita said.

"Which is why I am going to explain it all over again, girls. Please take your seats." Takashi-sensei said. She took her place at the front of the board and launched into her lesson.

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The Scouts walked home, yawning as Artemis and Luna weaved in and out of their feet.

"Shh…listen. Do you hear that?" Mina asked suddenly. The Scouts stopped and strained to listen.

The cracks in the pavement began to separate, making way for a host of unappetizing characters to crawl forth. They were all young men with hair as black as night, their bodies wrapped in dark silk.

"If villains were this good-looking all the time, I'd consider switching sides." Raye said, her eyes bulging at the sight of them. Amy elbowed her in the ribs.

"I was only kidding, Amy." She replied.

"There's no time for that now." Mina said, worriedly.

The young men had circled the Scouts, their raven hair shimmering in the afternoon sun. They shed their capes, revealing a cavalcade of weapons underneath.

"Right." Lita added. She held up her transformation pen. The other Scouts followed suit.

"Jupiter star power!"

"Venus star power!"

"Mars star power!"

"Mercury star power!"

"Moon crystal power!"

The Sailor Scouts stood ready, back to back against the swarm of good-looking boys.

"I've never felt bad about kicking bad-guy butt before, but for some reason it seems a shame to wipe them out when they happen to be so gorgeous." Raye said.

The young men began to smile, their teeth sparkling white. Raye felt her knees tremble.

"Don't fall for it, Sailor Scouts. These men were sent by Prince Ayashii." Tuxedo Mask shouted from the awning of a nearby pawn shop.

"The deadly charmer." Amy whispered, trying to ignore the aura of handsomeness permeating from the pack of young men. Tuxedo Mask threw a dozen roses around the men, trying to ward them off.

"Why can't we fight them?" Lita cried. Serena gulped hard.

"I don't know." Mina said. The Scouts attempted to voice their attacks, only to be caught off-guard by a wink or a shrug by one of Prince Ayashii's men.

"Try closing your eyes," Amy exclaimed, "Shine aqua illusion!"

The young men turned into shards of glass, casting a full reflection upon Sailor Mercury as her attack was suddenly thrust back into her face.

"No!" Serena wailed as Mercury hit the ground. She knelt beside her in horror.

"These pretty boys have crossed the line!" Raye shouted.

"Don't send an attack, Sailor Mars…" Mina said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Then what are we going to do?" She asked helplessly.

"…I don't know." She replied.


	2. Love Diamonds

Before the Scouts could regain their bearings, Prince Ayashii's henchman suddenly faded from sight, slipping back through the cracks from whence they came.

"What was _that_?" Sailor V asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. Luna and Artemis looked at each other knowingly.

"I think we have our culprit in the diamond theft." Luna said. Amy moaned softly, barely able to lift herself from the ground. Serena helped her up gladly.

"I can't believe how it feels to be attacked by my own powers. I feel sorry for all those bad guys." Amy murmured. Lita put one of Amy's arms around her shoulder, helping her walk.

"At least you're okay. We thought we'd lost you." Raye said, her voice breaking.

"Don't be ridiculous, Raye. Sailor Mercury can't be harmed by 'shine aqua illusion'." Serena said, smugly. Raye rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, moon dork. I'm just saying I'm glad she's all right."

"Prince Ayashii is responsible for all those stolen diamonds?" Mina asked, suddenly remembering. Luna nodded grimly.

"Prince Ayashii and his vile cohorts are planning on sucking the beauty out of earth." Tuxedo Mask said, his cape swirling as he descended from the awning.

"_All_ the beauty???" Serena asked. Raye laughed in her face.

"Good thing you're not pretty enough to steal from." She replied.

"How dare you-" 

"Girls, please…we have to get to the bottom of Prince Ayashii's plans before everything pleasant on earth is taken away." Artemis interrupted the quarrel.

"But what do the diamonds have to do with their plan?" Mina wondered. Artemis shook his head gently.

"We don't know yet." He murmured. Amy's eyes brightened.

"Of course. The diamonds must be giving them enough power to steal the beauty from this planet." She explained.

"In essence, the diamonds are their source of strength. It would certainly explain how Prince Ayashii's men have gotten more powerful every time someone is robbed." Artemis said.

"How strange. I wonder where they come from…" Serena said to herself.

"Are they from a Nega-moon?" Lita wondered. Luna and Artemis shrugged.

"Well, let's find out." Amy said.

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They gathered at Serena's house that afternoon and set to work doing research on Prince Ayashii and his followers.

"Prince Ayashii doesn't live on a Nega-moon…but he does live on a moon, all right." Artemis began. He shifted his gaze worriedly to all the girls.

"He lives on earth's moon?" Amy asked, finding Ayashii's profile on her special computer.

"No way! That would make him unbeatable if both he and Sailor Moon drew their strength from the same place." Lita said.

"Please…no one is unbeatable for me." Serena said. She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

"You're right, Serena. You can crush anyone with that huge head of yours." Raye muttered.

"Let's not start this again." Luna sighed.

"But one thing I don't understand. If Sailor Moon and Prince Ayashii come from the same origins, how is it that she doesn't receive a power charge from a cluster of diamonds?" Amy wondered.

"My origins? Could he be related to me?" Serena exclaimed.

"It's possible, but not likely." Artemis told her.

"Well, whatever we do, it's going to have to be fast. Midterms are next week." Mina put in. The girls sighed as they remembered their exams.

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"Grandpa? Where did you go?" Raye walked around the temple but couldn't find the old man anywhere.

She finally returned to the house finding Eddie Devereux and her grandfather chatting in the main room. She knelt beside her grandfather, her eyes glaring at him with all of her power.

"You traitor. How dare you invite him in?" She whispered in his ear.

"I was just telling Eddie-kun about your gift of foresight. He seems incredibly interested." Grandpa said. Raye pursed her lips together.

"I'll bet." She mumbled under her breath.

"Raye…you are so wonderful. I hope you will not think me forward if I ask you to attend a movie with me." Eddie said slowly. His Japanese was formal, but correct at any rate.

"Eh…"

Raye's grandfather jabbed her in the ribs with his arm.

"Sure!" She squealed in pain. Grandpa gave a slight nod.

Eddie Devereux's face lit up and he bowed profusely, his nose nearly touching the mat.

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"He asked you out?" Mina said a little too loudly. Raye stared straight ahead and ignored the question.

"Oh, he's so dreamy. Foreign boys are such cuties." Lita sighed.

"His scores are really high considering Japanese is just his third or fourth language." Amy said.

"If I weren't with Darien, I might be tempted to make a move on him myself." Serena said softly, looking around to see if Darien was nearby.

"You guys are making me sick." Raye shouted. She opened her schoolbag and took out her books. Whilst rummaging through her things, she found a tiny blue box.

She opened it carefully, her eyes growing large as she discovered a huge diamond necklace inside.


	3. Cursed Diamonds

"I'm telling you, Eddie Devereux is Prince Ayashii." Raye exclaimed as they sat in the cafeteria eating their lunch.

Mina rolled her eyes. Lita laughed. Amy raised an eyebrow. Serena took another bite of her udon noodles.

"I'm serious. He gave me a present…an expensive diamond necklace!" Rei's voice was growing louder.

"Rei, just because he gave you diamonds doesn't mean that he's Prince Ayashii. You have no proof. It's a very big coincidence and that's all." Mina said, her arms crossed.

"Do you even know if Eddie was the one to put those diamonds in your bag?" Amy wondered. Rei frowned.

"No." She said in defeat.

"Try thinking things through before you judge, Rei." Serena added. Rei sighed angrily.

"Fine." She muttered.

"By the way, that is one gorgeous necklace. Are you going to wear it?" Lita wondered. Rei shook her head vehemently.

"That's really a shame. They look so cool and valuable."

"Do you want them?" Rei wondered. Lita shook her head reluctantly.

"They were a gift to you, Rei." She replied.

"I'll take them!" Serena squealed with glee. Rei handed her the diamonds, extremely relieved to be rid of them.

"I'll put them on when I get home. It's a shame I don't have anything to wear that's as pretty as these." Serena murmured.

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Serena had long since abandoned her homework. Instead she was twirling in front of the mirror, singing to herself.

She flipped her hair over a few times, trying to arrange it as though she were attending a fancy dinner party. She fingered the necklace delicately, placing it around her neck with a smile.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, turning sideways and every other which way. She decided that she looked good wearing it. Rei may not have liked it, but Serena was beginning to adore it.

"Whatcha doin'?" Rini asked, poking her head around the door. Serena took the necklace off and hid it in her jewelry box.

"Nothing." She said. Rini gave her an odd look, but she said nothing.

"Nothing. I promise." She said with a smile.

"Darien's here. Just thought I'd tell you, Moon Mama." She winked and closed the door, trotting off down the hall.

Serena fixed herself up and went to meet Darien, hugging him as he entered the door.

"Oh, Darien! I've missed you sooooooo much!" She said, hanging on him as he tried to walk a few steps.

"I've missed you, too, Serena." He chuckled.

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Rei surrounded herself with the birds. They never said a word to her, for which she was eternally grateful. They would never tell her she was overreacting, or that her suspicions were unfounded.

But the birds never gave her advice, either, or made her laugh when she was upset.

"Maybe my friends are right." She said to herself. It certainly made sense.

She picked up the phone to call Serena and apologize when she overheard her grandfather talking about another neighborhood that had been vandalized. They were out nothing but diamonds. Fake ones, real ones, expensive ones, not so expensive ones…it didn't matter.

They were all taken.

Rei crouched in the hallway and listened.

"I know, I know…horrible times we're living in when we can't even keep our homes safe from robbers. And that's not the worst part.

The diamonds never show up again in pawn shops or on the streets. It's like they literally disappear."

Rei began to process the information quickly. She then got to her feet and headed toward Serena's house.

This was definite cause for a meeting.

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Serena yawned and combed her hair, putting on her pajamas and getting ready for bed. She was still dreamy-eyed from spending time with Darien.

She put her brush down on her bureau, glancing at the open jewelry box with the diamond necklace inside.

It seemed to beckon her. It seemed to want to be worn. If it was possible for an inanimate object to have wants…

Serena slipped the diamonds across her neck and tied the clasp. As soon as she paused to glance at her reflection, she noticed her eyes had changed.

A sudden knock at the door brought her out of her trance.

"Serena? We need to talk! Now." Rei burst through the door.

Serena's eyes clouded over and her hair began to turn black.


End file.
